It is often necessary to confirm that someone instructing a transaction is who they claim to be or that they are authorised to carry out a particular transaction. Identification cards carrying a photograph of authorised personnel are well known as are cards, e.g. bank cards, having a magnetic strip containing details of a four digit code which can be compared to a code inputted by the carrier of a card into a card receiving machine.
Identification cards of the first type having a photograph on their surface which is always visible may be tampered with. For example, the photograph may be removed and replaced with another. Furthermore, such cards cannot be used for a remote identification as they cannot be used to generate an identification signal which may be transmitted to a location remote from the card carrier and the card. This means that the card is not suitable for identification of someone authorising the transaction over, for example, the telephone.
The magnetic strip type of identification card results in a xe2x80x98yesxe2x80x99 or a xe2x80x98noxe2x80x99 signal. The strip merely stores a code corresponding to the authorised card user""s input code and does not produce an identification signal which can be transmitted to a remote display to generate a display characteristic of the carrier of the card and readily identifiable therewith.
The invention is defined in claims 1, 2, or 6 to which reference should now be made.
Embodiments of the invention of claims 1, 2, or 6 allow one to generate a signal which can be transmitted to a remote display to produce a display readily identifiable with a particular user by someone monitoring the display.
Preferably, the second memory of claim 2 stores a bit map corresponding to an image of, the face of the carrier of the card which is transmitted to a remote display to generate an image of the carrier of the card. This results in an identification signal which is difficult to replicate by a forger and yet which can be easily generated and transmitted by the user of the card.
Preferred features of the invention are described in is the claims appendant on claims 1, 2, and 6 to which reference should now be made.